


Don't Fret, I'll Make You a Way To Be Happy

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Moirails, breakup (not main pairing), depressed!karkat, solkat - Freeform, sollux takes care of a whiny child aka karkat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-02 18:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5259869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux decides that Karkat needs a friend, so he builds a set of devices so that Karkat can always get ahold of him instantly.</p><p>(Not a good summary but I didn't want to give too much away.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Fret, I'll Make You a Way To Be Happy

You've noticed that Karkat is not exactly acting like himself (everyone has), but you haven't approached him about it. You care, but you're not actually worried, per say. You wouldn't expect him to act any other way. 

It's no secret that he's ended his moiraillegiance with Gamzee, so no one is really expecting him to be a big ball of sunshine. Everyone knows how close they were, and the loss of a moirail can be devastating. So you all give him the space you assume he desires, for the most part. The rest of you talk about it at times. It's usually hushed - for some reason, it feels like either Gamzee or Karkat can hear you, or gossiping is disrespectful to them. 

However, after four days of very minimal contact with him (and, according to the others, they've heard just about as much out of him as you have), you decide it's time to check up on him. It takes a bit of obnoxious, but good natured prodding from Terezi, who insists that you're Karkat's best friend - right next to Gamzee - and that you should go talk to him and see if you can get him to cheer up. 

Thus, you find yourself headed for Karkat's hive the next day - day five since he seemingly dropped off of the face of Alternia. You keep your hands in your pockets the whole way there, and only remove one to knock on his door when you're finally in front of it. All you can think about as you wait for him to let you in is how much your legs are aching. 

You wait for five seconds. Then ten. Then fifteen. By then, you're getting ready to give up and turn around to go back home. Just as you give up hope, you hear the knob turn on the other side and see the door crack open slightly, and Karkat's cautious gaze soon fills the gap. As soon as he realizes it's you, he huffs a relieved sigh and opens the door wider. 

Now that you have a better look at him, your first thought is that he looks exhausted. There are dark circles under his eyes, he's slouched over with a slight frown, and his hair is in complete disarray. 

You offer him a soft smile, your best attempt not to let on that you're now somewhat concerned. "Hey, KK. How'th it going?" 

He gives you a look like he doesn't know what you're talking about, but apparently abandons the effort after a few seconds and glances at the ground. "I'm fine. Come inside." 

He slinks away from the doorway, and you follow, shutting the door behind you. His hive isn't in much better condition than he is. Many of his books and movies are laying around on the floor and other places they don't belong, which is incredibly unlike him. Those are his prized possessions, and he usually goes out of his way to take care of them. In addition, half eaten food is sitting around on tables and on top of his bookshelf and desk. You hadn't realized it was this bad. 

You watch him trudge over to his chair and flop down in it, still trying to pretend you're not uneasy over this. You motion for him to get up but don't say anything, and he furrows his eyebrows at you for a second, but obeys anyway and stands back up. You make your way over and take his spot in the chair, then pat your lap for him to sit back down. He doesn't protest. 

He seats himself on your lap and makes himself comfortable, and you wrap your arms around his torso in a hug. 

"What took you so long?" he asks weakly, still managing to sound disappointed. 

"What?" You close your eyes and sniff, leaning back into the chair and pulling his upper half down with you. 

"It's been four days, and you're just now coming to see me." 

"Actually, it'th been five." 

"Well shit. That's even worse." You can tell he's getting irritated now. "Do you just not give a fuck about me anymore? 'Cause if I remember correctly, I've always been there for your sorry ass. Where have you been the past five days?"

You sigh softly. "Giving you thpathe, like I thought you wanted." You're a little surprised that he's really implying that he needed to be comforted by you or anyone else. He's certainly not emotionally invincible, but he can usually take care of himself. 

"I might have wanted some space, but you could have said something to me. At least let me know you give a shit." He sounds somewhere between angry and depressed, but apparently not enough so to try and escape your hold on him.

"I do care. I jutht athumed you needed time, that'th all." You shrug. "Chill out. I'm here now, becauthe I care." 

You don't feel like arguing with him right now, and he seems to have grown weary of being mad already (what a fucking surprise. If he wants, he can usually go on for an hour), because he remains silent for a moment. 

"Will you stay here tonight? Keep me entertained with your assholery?" It's obvious from his tone that you aren't off the hook, but you're getting there. 

You nod. "Thure thing. I'd be glad to." 

You can almost feel him relax after that. 

"Do you wanna talk?" you ask after another quiet pause. "I think you need to." 

"There's not much to say," Karkat responds boredly. "Gamzee's not my moirail anymore, so I'm sad and I've become a fucking recluse." 

You let that sink in for a spell, and another question boils to the surface before you can really think it over. "Ith that all? Ith that the only reathon you're upthet?" 

He can't exactly turn around to look at you, but you can imagine the look on his face. "Yeah. Why else would I be upset?" 

"I don't know. I jutht didn't think thith would hit you tho hard ith all." 

"Gamzee was my best friend. I cared about him so much. You know that," he mutters defensively. "I can be a shitty gray cloud all I want, and if you don't think it's a good enough reason, then go fuck yourself." 

You smile a little bit despite his sour remark. "Yeah, alright. I never thaid it wathn't a good reathon, I jutht thaid I didn't expect you to be tho down." 

"Well, I am," he states matter-of-factly, starting to become fired up again. "You just can't get it through your tiny thinkpan. Don't try to, it only makes you sound like a fucking idiot." 

You shush him and run your hand through his hair. He remains tense and bristly, but he doesn't snap at you anymore. It's a good sign. 

Karkat kind of sort of falls asleep on you after a few minutes, but you try not to care or wake him up. As previously mentioned, he looks exhausted, and you'd feel pretty guilty if you got up right in the middle of what could be his first rest in days. 

However, he wakes up a short time later, and you fear that you may have done something to cause him to stir. 

He sits up at about the speed of light and looks back at you. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I'm just so..." 

He trails off, but you know what he meant to say. Tired. He just doesn't want to admit it. You nod in understanding and assure him that it's okay.

For the rest of the night, the both of you alternate between reading and watching movies. You watch the movies for the books, and when Karkat gets pissed off that the movie leaves things out (despite having seen them all a thousand times and being fully aware of the flaws), he finds the book and starts reading it to you out loud so that you'll "actually understand what really happened." You try to listen, but it can get hard. In most cases, you'd probably get irritated and stop him, but you know that this is good for him. He needs to let out some of his frustration after not spitting venom at you and all of your friends for the past few days. So you put up with it and try to comprehend the things he's telling you. 

At one point, he asks you to install an update on his husktop for Trollian, and you happily oblige. While romance novels and movies are about as far from your area as it gets, computers are right up your alley. They also happen to be right up Karkat's alley. The problem is that you actually know what you're doing, and he doesn't, unless he's trying to blow the fucking thing up, so you're guessing that's why he didn't just do it himself before now. 

And, finally, when the both of you are tired, you settle down to sleep. Karkat offers to share his recuperacoon with you, but you don't think you'll fit, and you don't want to bother him. You take the chair instead. He's knocked out within the first fifteen minutes, but your mind isn't ready for sleep. That's when you come up with your idea. 

The next day, after waking up at Karkat's hive and eventually going back to your own, you conference with Equius virtually.

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering centaursTesticle [CT]

TA: ii need you two help me wiith 2omethiing.  
CT: D --> What do you need  
TA: ii need help buiildiing a beeper and a panel wiith a button  
TA: for kk.  
CT: D --> Why can't you accomplish this task on your own  
TA: ii can.  
TA: iit would ju2t take le22 tiime iif ii had your help.  
TA: youre good at buiildiing thiing2, riight?  
TA: dont you buiild tho2e robot2 and beat the 2hiit out of them or whatever?  
CT: D --> Yes  
CT: D --> But that does not make me any g00d at building small metal bo%es  
CT: D --> You are much more tech savvy than I am  
TA: look, bottom liine ii2 that kk ii2 depre22ed over the whole thiing wiith makara, and ii am a good friiend  
TA: 2o ii deciided two create a 2y2tem of communiicatiion more iin2tant than trolliian.  
TA: he pre22e2 the button when he need2 me two come 2cream at hiim or pet hiim or what the hell ever  
TA: and my beeper goe2 off  
TA: loudly  
TA: and iill know that ii need two get my a22 over two hii2 hiive asap.  
CT: D --> I see  
CT: D --> But I still don't understand why my assistance is required here  
TA: lii2ten, eq, iif you dont ju2t giive iit up and lend me a hand for two goddamn 2econd2, youll have a lot more to worry about than ju2t your robot2.  
CT: D --> I detect a threat  
TA: congratulatiion2.  
CT: D --> I will help you but it is most certainly not because I am afraid  
CT: D --> It is because I am kind and Karkat is a mutual friend whose well-being I truly care for  
TA: riight.  
TA: look, 2eriiou2ly all iim a2kiing you two do i2 come 2ee me after ii get the wiiriing and 2hiit worked out and make me 2ome niice, 2turdy, functiioniing boxe2 two put the wiire2 iin.  
TA: that2 iit.  
TA: do you thiink you can pull that off, mr. mu2cle2?  
CT: D --> Most likely  
TA: great. ii appreciiate iit.  
TA: iill keep you updated. iill probably take a couple of day2 two fiinii2h my part of iit.  
TA: 2ee you later.  


twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering centaursTesticle [CT]

You get to work right away. You're not sure why you like this idea so much. Trollian is a quick enough way for Karkat to get ahold of you. Then again, sometimes you're not right by your computer, and even if he does contact you that way, there's no way for you to know it's urgent and he feels like he needs you right this second until you get around to reading it. That's what this pair of devices is essentially - a call for help. It's useful, and it's also a good way to show Karkat you care. You think he'll appreciate you taking the time and putting in the effort to create something for him that's meant entirely to help him out, even if he doesn't outright thank you for it. For the most part, you use old computer wires and parts from computers you've accidentally (or sometimes not) blown up while you were coding them. 

It doesn't take as long as you initially expect it to to come up with your plan and get everything in order, and by the next evening you have Equius over to build the small box structures you'll be setting the wires up in. You explain to him how the wires will be adjusted and attached so that he knows what to do with the little remotes. 

Within a couple hours, he's finished, and it's your turn to work on it some more. After you thank him and he leaves, you spend your whole night plugging the wires into the right places within the metal remote boxes. You don't get it right after the first try. In fact, once you're ready for the first test run, you click the button on the remote you'll be giving to Karkat, and all you get from the beeper is a brief, staticky noise that scares the shit out of you when you hear it. So, you reshape and move some wires. On the second try, the button shocks you. On the third try, nothing happens at all, but you take that as a good sign. Nothing is better than what happened before. Still, you don't give up. You're determined to get this done by morning. 

Finally, on the sixth try, after five revisions, a click of the button produces a (loud and annoying - so much so that you regret this idea until you remember that it's supposed to be obnoxious enough for you to hear it at any time) steady flow of beeps that aren't distorted. 

By then, you're ready to pass out. Your eyelids are heavy and you can't even think straight anymore. You climb into your recuperacoon and you're asleep in no time. 

The next morning, you can barely contain your excitement to tell Karkat what you've done. 

twinArmageddons [TA] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TA: hey kk. wake the fuck up.  
TA: karkle2?  
TA: damn, ii thought for 2ure that one would get you.  
TA: ii know youre there. you never 2leep thii2 late.  
CG: SOMETIMES I DO. HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?  
TA: ah, he 2peak2 at la2t.  
CG: WHAT DO YOU WANT, ASSHOLE?  
TA: come over. ii have 2omethiing two giive you.  
CG: OOH, A PRESENT. FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC.  
CG: THAT WAS SARCASM, IN CASE YOU COULDN'T TELL, WHICH IS LIKELY.  
CG: WHY CAN'T YOU COME TO ME? YOU MANAGED IT JUST FINE LAST TIME.  
TA: ii could iif ii wanted two, but you need two get out of your hiive anyway. youve been iin there for day2.  
CG: I DON'T THINK I NEED YOUR GIFT THAT BAD.  
TA: how would you know? you dont even know what iit ii2.  
CG: THEN PLEASE, ENLIGHTEN ME SO MUCH THAT I FUCKING GLOW OUT OF MY ASSHOLE.  
TA: iif ii diid that iit wouldnt be a 2urprii2e.  
CG: DON'T CARE. I DON'T LIKE SURPRISES.  
TA: that2 ju2t two goddamn bad, ii2nt iit?  
TA: 2top feeliing 2orry for your2elf and get your lazy a22 over here. 2hiit. iit wont kiill you.  
CG: IT JUST MIGHT, CARCASS BRAIN.  
TA: tru2t me, you want my pre2ent. youll love iit.  
CG: HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?  
TA: becau2e ii know you.  
CG: IF THIS ENDS UP BEING A WASTE OF MY TIME AND ENERGY, CAPTOR, I SWEAR ON THE ALMIGHTY FUCKING MAKER THAT YOU'LL FEEL MY WRATH.  
TA: whatever.  
TA: 2ee you 2oon, kk.  
CG: I WOULDN'T COUNT ON IT.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

You test the system one more time before Karkat comes over, knowing that he probably won't love it as much as you promised he would. You had to at least get him curious, or he'd never even bother to check it out. 

Sure enough, it works just as well as it had the night before. 

You eat breakfast and lounge around some while you wait. It's a good half an hour before you finally hear that knock on your door, and by then you're almost too unexcited to bother answering. With an inconvenienced sigh, you stand up and jog on over to open it. Karkat stands with his arms crossed on the other side, looking bored. 

"Well, well," you say in a pompous tone. "What a pleathant thurprithe." 

You move out of the way so that he can come inside, and he shuffles past you without a hello or a smile.

"Why am I here?" he asks as if he's got a thousand better places to be (and you know he doesn't). 

You stride on over to your end table, where you left the remote and the beeper. You grab one in each hand and turn back around to face Karkat, holding them up for him to see with a confident smile. He looks painfully unimpressed, and before you can explain, he starts running his mouth. 

"Oh, Jegus. What in the actual fuck is that?" He sounds exasperated. "And keep it short, please. I don't need to hear every goddamn detail." 

He's just not smart enough to understand every little detail like you can. That's what you think. But you'll humor him anyway. First, you wave the remote around a little bit. "Thith ith for you. You preth the red button whenever you need me, and I'll come." You hold the remote out for him to take, and he does, inspecting it closely. 

"Why would I need you?" he mutters. 

That's blow number one, which you do your best to ignore. You don't even respond, in fact. 

Instead, you gesture to the beeper in your hand. "Thith ith for me. Whenever you preth the button, it beepth, tho I know you want me to come thee you. Try it." 

He looks confused for a moment, then presses the button on the remote. Sure enough, the beeper goes off in your hand, making him tense up. 

"Holy shit." 

You smile amusedly. "That'th the good part for you. You don't have to hear that." 

He sighs and his expression softens, and you're pretty sure he's about to thank you, but instead, he delivers blow number two. 

"Can't you just give the other part to Terezi or Kanaya or someone who's actually good at helping?" 

That makes you freeze up, and you feel an aching pang in your chest. After a few seconds of feeling like you got smacked with a brick, you start to get seriously irritated. 

"Do you even know how ungrateful you thound?" you scold, letting your arms droop loosely at your side. "I've been working on making thith ever thinthe I left your hive the other day." 

"Hey, don't even go there. It's not like I asked for it, you can't expect me to swoon and thank you for the next ten minutes. I don't even see how this is useful." He holds up the remote again and scowls at it. "If you want to help, like I said, give it to someone else." 

You don't understand why he's being such an asshole, but you quickly lose your patience with it. "Maybe I will." You can't even think of a better retort at the moment. 

"Great. Well, I guess if that's it, I'll be going back home." He seems so unaffected by the things he's saying, as if it's just small talk. "Goodbye." 

You stare at him in bewilderment as he leaves, not even letting yourself give him a farewell. You had expected that to go so much differently, and now you don't really know what to do. Sure, he's rude and disrespectful, but he's not usually that much of an ass - especially not to you. Aren't you one of his best friends? He seemed in a hurry to leave. 

The longer you think about it, the angrier you become until you're sitting there on the floor with your arms crossed and your brow furrowed like a toddler in time out. You think it's safe to assume Karkat won't ever use the remote. In fact, it would surprise you if he doesn't just discard or lose it. You feel pretty down over it. You were just trying to be nice to him and let him know you're there for him. 

You go about your business as usual for the next few days, and eventually talk to Aradia about the Karkat Incident, as you've grown accustomed to calling it in your head (you're not saying you think about it a lot, but you actually do). She doesn't know what to make of it either, really. Even so, she cheers you up pretty well when she starts joking around and telling you about her day. You love listening to her go on and on, because her life is much more exciting than yours, and you're proud of her for it. 

You also speak to Equius because you feel like maybe he'll empathize with you, having helped make the remote and beeper. He sort of does, but you can tell he's not too concerned over it. It was more your project than his. You try not to let the whole thing bother you too much. You remain confused, but you don't necessarily feel bad (most of the time). 

However, on the fourth night since Karkat came by your hive to get the remote, you get woken up. You don't know what god awful hour it is, but you hear a piercing sound, and it takes you all too long to realize that it's the beeper. When you do, your heart sinks. 

You consider ignoring it and going back to sleep, but you can't bring yourself to do that. No matter how big of a dick Karkat was to you, you can't turn off caring about him. So you peel yourself out of your recuperacoon and stumble to your door, dreading the journey to your friend's hive. 

It's immediately apparent that it's cold outside, and you curse under your breath as you trot along, trying to speed up the process of getting where you're going. You rub viciously at your arms as you move, but it doesn't do a lot of good. You're still freezing. What are you even doing? He completely disregarded you and all the effort you put into being a good friend. He doesn't deserve this from you, but fuck, what else are you supposed to do? 

So, not too much later, you find yourself standing in front of his hive. Your mind is racing, but your body is hesitating. All you can think about is how cold it is out here, and how much you want to be inside, but you don't know if you want to see Karkat. After a few seconds of war with yourself, the hatred of the cold wins you over and you knock a little too frantically on his door. 

It opens a split second later, and you can't help but wonder if he's been waiting for you. Before you can say anything or get a good look at Karkat, he's grabbing your arm and pulling you inside. And, God, after that everything happens too fast. 

Your mind is still spinning, still thinking about the cold, but you realize he's crying - no, sobbing - so you're thinking about that, too, and he doesn't let go of your arm, and you wonder why, and fuck. Before you can even process everything enough to ask questions, you're getting pushed against the wall with a force you didn't ever know Karkat possessed, and you're getting kissed, and he's so warm, holy shit. What is going on? 

But you kiss him back. It's one of those "I didn't know I needed this until it came along" things.

His hands are on the back of your neck, then wrapped around you in a hug, then back on your neck. It's as if he can't make up his mind. But neither of you break away. It's too good, and it's too long in the making. 

However, there comes a point where you can't fucking breathe, so you kind of have to back off. You're a little dizzy and wide eyed, and Karkat still looks like a puppy that's gotten kicked around. He's not crying anymore. 

"What the hell, KK?" you ask incredulously, nearly melting onto the floor. 

He just hugs you with all his might, and you're about as confused as you can possibly be. You don't think you've ever seen him hug someone, and if you have, it was awkward and forced. 

"I'm sorry," he mumbles into your shirt, voice still miserable and shaking. "I didn't want you to- to come because I'm tired of you being here because..." He seems to have lost his train of thought for a minute. "Red, Sollux. That's how I feel, and I wanted it to go away. I didn't want a fucking matesprit. I'm tired of all my quadrant bullshit. I hate it. It's too difficult. I wish I could just take two shitty seconds to focus on me and my self-loathing, but I can't. I like your stupid ass so much, and when Gamzee and I broke up, I had no one to really talk to because you were the next best thing, but I didn't want you to know it." 

His face is still buried in your shirt, and you're a little stunned. Why is this such a shocker, especially when he just kissed you? God, you're slow as fuck. You can't get it together at this time. You just woke up and hiked through the cold. 

"Are you theriouth?" you eventually whisper, when you feel like you need to say something. 

Karkat finally looks up at you, and you're pretty sure you're about to get assaulted, but it doesn't happen. He looks completely bummed out, nonetheless. "Yes, idiot. So now that I've gotten it off my chest, you can go home." 

He turns around and starts walking off to his chair, but you stop him. 

"Hold up. No. I'm not going home. You already fucking bailed on me immediately after I tried to help you." You shake your head, but he's giving you a puzzled look. 

"No, I'm fucking serious. If you're just going to stick around to prolong your god awful rejection-"

"Who ever thaid I would reject you?" You scoff. 

His eyes widen a little, and you can tell he has played this whole thing out in his head, but it went completely the opposite of the way it's going now. 

"I...I just assumed...?" He shrugs and slumps over a bit. 

You shake your head again, and wander over to his chair before he can keep heading for it. 

"Come here," you murmur, holding out your arms. 

He sits down in your lap the way he did before, and you wrap your arms around him. Neither of you say anything for awhile. You just sit there, and you love the weight of him sitting on you, and you just love being like this. You love him a little bit. You always have. You just didn't really realize it. 

Finally, Karkat breaks the silence, so quietly that it takes you a second to figure out what he says. "I thought you were with Aradia." 

You almost laugh, but you know this isn't an appropriate time to do so. "Oh, no. Not for a long time." 

He makes the effort to twist himself around enough to look at you.

"You act like it, though," he argues, only a little bit louder. "You always talk to her and hang out with her and compliment her-" At this point, you put your hand over his mouth, but he pries it off effortlessly and continues. "-and she's the same way with you. I hate it." 

You roll your eyes and sigh. "She'th like my thithter. But it'th not like that. Trutht me." 

Karkat seems satisfied with that answer, and he settles back down, once again leaning against you. He lays his head back against your shoulder. 

"Can you forgive me? For what I said the other day? I do need you, unfortunately." You can tell his snark is coming back, which is good. "I just didn't want to accept it." 

"Of courthe. No need to athk, it wath already forgiven." 

And with that, he kisses you again, and you get the feeling that he's not going to need that remote anymore, cause you don't think you ever want to leave.

**Author's Note:**

> Idk what this even is omg. This is the first thing I've finished in forever. I feel like maybe I should make a smut sequel like I almost added some smut in here but I figured it would kill the fluff so I was like eh. Opinions?


End file.
